"Have you enlarged your knowledge of obligations and your capacity to perform them?," asked Trustee Owen D. Young of the class of 1931. This question still motivates Laurentians today. It consistently challenges us to ensure that we expand our capacity to learn from one another as we prepare students to become responsible members of our interconnected and thus interdependent global community. Today, we also ask, “what will hold our diverse and inclusive community together?” While respecting and valuing individuals as our founders desired, as a community of learners, Laurentians will seek to find common ground or, at least, strive together to understand our differences. We believe that students, faculty and staff from a variety of backgrounds, experiences, identities and heritages, when working together, are more likely to produce the leaders our society needs.

We believe that St. Lawrence University must work to create an environment that thrives on the diversity individuals bring to this community of learners. We understand that what will hold our diverse and inclusive community together is our clear commitment to finding common ground through ongoing communal dialog, our sense that a strong educational foundation is at once empathetic, ethical and intellectual, and our focus on positive educational and social outcomes. To integrate diversity meaningfully into our curricular and extracurricular community life, we acknowledge the need to challenge previous habits and assumptions, understanding the structures of power and injustice in which they exist. We are willing to risk difficulty and discomfort in working towards achieving these goals.

To prepare students for intellectual leadership, professional achievement and responsible global citizenship, St. Lawrence University is devoted to creating, sustaining, and expanding a diverse University community.